inbox.

[assistente]

written correspondence preferred. please don't leave complaints here.

Comments

[assistente]

Oh. Yes. That would be an efficient use of-- time. Very good. Here is the, ah-- location of the rooms that they are looking to have--

[Prepared? Is there some other word? Never mind, he's not going to risk it. Instead, Salvio simply hands over the map, with each rooms selected by a series of small stars located in the corner.]

Will you need paper, on which to make notes?

[zombra]

Nice. And yeah, I'll totally take some and a pencil if you've got it.

[ She looks over the map, squinting for a second in thought until she's sure she knows how to get there. Then her face smooths out and she looks up at him expectantly. ]

[assistente]

Yes, of course. Ah--

[He shifts around some larger stacks of parchment and files, rooting around for-- yes. There it is. A pencil, probably a little more crude than she would be used to, but essentially the same. And, after some additional searching, a sheaf of paper with a loose binding holding one end together. Ye olde scratch pad.]

Here you are. You may keep these, if you like. I will request replacements, they are-- a little freer, with some of the, um. Cheaper items. That is to say, the quality is good, it is only-- inexpensive, by comparison. To other requests.

[zombra]

Yeah, I get that. [ And he seems like the kind of guy who might enjoy ordering office supplies. ] Thanks, dude. I'll be back in maybe an hour? To get your bowl. And I'll hand in a report when I've got the rooms spic 'n span.

[ A pause. ]

That means clean.

[assistente]

Ah--

[The momentary look of confusion (largely manifested by a slight crease between Salvio's eyebrows) clears as she defines her strange Rifter terminology for him. Now he can instead be tentatively pleased, to have been given some new knowledge.]

Very good, yes. That is the, ah, spirit. 'Spic and span'.

[zombra]

Right! Well, I'm off.

[ She gives an awkward half wave goodbye, because she's still like, right in front of him, then turns and heads out of the room with one last smile back at him.

She'd tell him not to work too hard, but that would fall on deaf ears. ]

crystal b/c im lazy;

[ebeje]

[ fuck what was his name— ]

Seneschal. [ ... :) ] My name is Max. If you are not otherwise engaged, I should like a moment of your time.

[assistente]

[Who? What? Yes he is otherwise engaged, he is always otherwise engaged, but also--]

Yes? [No. Wait.] Uh, that is. Yes, now, if you-- Um, the base operations office has a suitable space for. For a meeting. Unless you prefer to discuss--as this.

But now, yes.

action;

[limier]

Seneschal,

[ hello salvio! good morning salvio! someone's remembered that he exists long enough to drop in unannounced, and loom in his doorway brandishing one of the magical books.

her tone is exceedingly polite, or might be if it didn't involve brandishing a book. ]

How are security measures progressing?

[assistente]

Nnna.

[--Surprised, strangled, stifled. Salvio is seated at his worktable, and so thoroughly engaged in his paperwork that his surprise at this address is completely genuine.]

--Ah. Yes, c-- That is-- Commander, I-- [A templar, a fucking templar, Commander Coupe, the templar, in the base operations office, holding one of the experimental Compendiums as if to use it as a weapon, and Salvio shrivels back in his chair.] They are, um. They... progress.

[limier]

That is curious,

[ she takes the liberty of inviting herself in, and shutting the door behind her. blocking the available exits might be plausibly thoughtless, if she didn't stop to see it locked. a gesture to the table — may I? —  ]

As Inquisition correspondence found itself upon the pages this morning. For perhaps an hour's time?

[ and definitely not because anyone here has been dismissing minor office break-ins ]

not-at-all-mysterious-orders-because-anonymous-envelopes-might-be-construed-as-a-threat

[matchymatchy]

[ When Salvio wakes, he’ll find that he’s received orders from Skyhold to review a few Inquisition suppliers around Kirkwall of importance to the scouting division. The Scoutmaster is also requested to attend.

The list is beautifully calligraphed, and limited in its scope; the vendors selected are all located in Hightown. First there’s a florist, then a vintner, a perfumer, and finally a maker of hardwood desks.

There are no other customers, and the reception of a Dalish elf and a mage — even those of minor status — is unusually warm: No hovering faces or worries that they’ll pocket the silver. They are followed, first by a very persistent man playing the violin, and then small children tossing petals in their path. They don’t really look where they’re throwing (faces, eyes) and if Beleth and Salvio don’t keep track of their coinpurses, those will vanish with the flower girl. She's eight, she claims her name is Darling, and she does the biggest saddest puppy eyes.

OOC Note: Beleth is played by Ema. Feel free to play out a thread, handwave things, or ignore it entirely, but check with each other first! ❤ ]

[skulltasm]

[ It’s in Salvio’s bed, this time. Neatly tucked between the blankets and the pillows, so it might be mistaken for just one of those bed lumps. You know how common bed lumps are, right? ]

[assistente]

[Bed lumps.

Salvio sees it, and thinks, That is not a pillow, but he has this thought just as he is pulling back the thin blanket, so it is too late, really--

(His bed is one of standard issue, situated in one of the dormitories. By some illusion, it might appear narrower than the others, meager and mean. But it is probably just that: an illusion. All of the beds are the same. Painfully, regimentedly the same.)

The blanket drops off of the rounded curve of the jar, the final veil in a horrible striptease that no one asked for. Salvio recoils in horror.]

Wha-- What are you-- What--

[skulltasm]

FINALLY! DO YOU NEVER SLEEP? I'VE BEEN HERE FOR AGES

[ Really it hasn't been that long, but when you don't have arms with which to maneuver bedding, or legs with which to leave, it gets so very

very

dull. ]

[reshapes]

[You're welcome.]

[assistente]

[ WHY ]

[assistente]

Why! Why! Why are you here at all!

[Salvio's recoil has put him a few steps back from the bed, and has drawn his blanket half off the bed to be clutched, modestly, to his chest. It makes for a poor shield. It is still better than nothing.]

[skulltasm]

WELL DON'T BLAME ME, IT'S NOT LIKE I PUT MYSELF HERE, NOW IS IT?

[ The skull doesn't wave its arms or legs, for it has neither. ]

[reshapes]

[Why, out of the goodness of his heart of course! You obviously are both in need of that special someone.]

[assistente]

Then how did you-- Why, did you--

[No, wait, the real question--]

You were--placed?

[skulltasm]

PLACED, OFF-LOADED, FOISTED, WHAT-HAVE-YOU. THE CURSE OF NOT BEING AMBULATORY.

[ A pause, then: ]

OH, UNCLUTCH YOUR PEARLS, SALVIE, YOU'VE GOT NOTHING I HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE. AND BELIEVE ME: I'VE SEEN PLENTY.

[assistente]

I am not--

[A protest, though he does clutch the thin blanket closer to his chest just then. What power do those eyeless eyes have? It is unknown.]

I was not even thinking of, anything, of the sort--it is just, this, is my private, my-- not private, precisely, but my bed, Inqu-- Riftwatch issue, bed, and I did not expect to find such a-- you.

[He lets out a great breath, a sharp and stressed exhale that does little to calm him. And he does not drop the blanket.]

Who-- who placed? Why?

[skulltasm]

DOES IT LOOK LIKE I HAVE EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD?

[ Two cartoonish eyes pop into existence within Skull's sockets at the moment he says eyes, roll exaggeratedly, and then disappear. ]

IT WOULD SEEM YOU HAVE AN ADMIRER.

[assistente]

Gah--

[An entirely involuntary noise. Salvio stumbles back another step. His legs are long enough that this stumble closes the distance between his bed and the empty bed to the right of his. The back of his knees hits the edge of the mattress, and he falls back onto it, clumsy and ungainly, sweeping his blanket the rest of the way off the bed and leaving the Skull entirely bare.

Is his fearful surprise because of the eyes, or the admirer? Well, he had started first when there were suddenly two eyes, so the first part is for the eyes. Now he trembles, staring with great apprehension at the figment in his bed.]

I, I-- I do not!